Published: July 24, 2008 11:49 am      

Those kids are going to turn out just fine

I'm watching my grandchildren closely to determine which ones will turn out to be avid outdoorsmen.

When they're real young, it's hard to tell. Little guys and gals may be avid anglers and then as they grow into teenagers they lose all interest.

Others may prefer to play more than fish or hunt when young and later develop into good anglers and hunters.

I never push them.

When we fish together, I'm always ready to swim or play when they get tired of casting.

I want them to love it. Not to feel pushed or compelled.

It looks like my son Terry's oldest boy, Terry Glenn, may turn out to be a real fishing and hunting buddy. In a few weeks he will have his 15th birthday.

Athletics occupy most of his time. Football and basketball wipe out most of the fall and winter for duck hunting with me. Since he was young, he has been good with the shotgun.

I gave him his great-grandfather's Model 37 Ithaca 12-gauge pump the Christmas before last. He's deadly with it. If it were not for all those ball games and practices, he could be a great duck shooter.

Two weeks ago, he fished the coast with me. We waded into a flat with some deep mud, but he's big and tough. The mud didn't seem to slow him down. He never stopped casting all morning. And persistence paid off.

After landing several undersized redfish and trout, he hooked a big redfish on a soft plastic lure. The fish made long, powerful runs and turned Terry around several times. I started to wade to him and net the fish, but decided it was time for him to learn to net, unhook and string his own fish. He did.

That fish really peaked his interest. He called when he got home to see if we could go back to the coast this week. What can a grandpa say? “Of course we can,” I answered.

So Monday and Tuesday we were back in Corpus Christi Bay. He caught several good speckled trout from the boat before we waded back into the muddy hole. He quickly caught two redfish but no keepers.

Then I spotted a redfish in a sand pocket. After motioning Terry to come, I put a live finger mullet under a bubble float. When the mullet hit the water, the redfish attacked him and Terry was in a real horse race.

The fish raced across the flat and tried to bury up in heavy grass. But Terry kept the pressure on the big spot tail and brought him to the net.

On Wednesday, (after the hurricane sent us to San Marcos) we floated the river in kayaks. I was amazed at how accurately he could cast the little crawfish crankbait.

He put it right up against the bank cast after cast. And when you do that you will catch fish in the San Marcos River.

We put plenty of big redbreasted sunfish in the ice box for supper, including one that he weighed at the A. E. Wood Fish Hatchery for the Angler Recognition Junior Division river record.

He also caught the San Marcos River record Guadalupe bass for the youngster division.

He was one happy camper. As we stopped for lunch on the river bank he said, “This is great fun.”

As we reached the confluence of the Blanco and San Marcos rivers I said, “Let's wrap it up and head for Cummins Dam and home.”

“Okay,” he replied. “But let me get in just one more cast.”

Wow! That sounded like my two radical fishing buddies. Namely, Bobby Whiteside and Mike Schlimgen.



Jim Darnell is an ordained minister and host/producer for the syndicated television show “God’s Great Outdoors.” His column appears every Thursday in the Daily Record.